James Spann: A few showers, storms in Alabama tonight; dry Friday
SEVERE CLEAR: We have nothing but sunshine across Alabama this afternoon with temperatures mostly between 68 and 73 degrees. The average high for Birmingham on May 6 is 80. But, to the north, a cold front is pushing a band of showers and thunderstorms into west Tennessee, and those will advance into the Tennessee Valley later this evening. The Storm Prediction Center has put parts of far north Alabama in a marginal risk of severe thunderstorms for early tonight, as these storms could produce small hail and gusty winds.
The weakening band of showers will reach I-59/20 by 9-10 tonight and will dissipate around midnight as they continue to encounter a very dry air mass.
FRIDAY AND THE WEEKEND: Friday and Saturday will feature sunshine in full supply. The high will be around 70 Friday, followed by upper 70s Saturday. A few showers could reach northwest Alabama Sunday afternoon, but showers and storms are more likely Sunday night ahead of a surface front.
NEXT WEEK: The weather looks unsettled for the first half of the week as the front stalls out across the Deep South. We will have the chance of occasional showers and thunderstorms daily Monday through Wednesday. For now, the severe weather threat looks low, and rain amounts of around 2 inches are likely. We will experience a drying trend Thursday and Friday.
ON THIS DATE IN 1937: The German passenger airship LZ 129 Hindenburg caught fire and was destroyed during its attempt to dock with its mooring mast at Naval Air Station Lakehurst in Manchester Township, New Jersey. Of the 97 people on board (36 passengers and 61 crewmen), there were 35 fatalities (13 passengers and 22 crewmen). One worker on the ground was also killed, making a total of 36 deaths. The Hindenburg had been delayed two hours from docking due to thunderstorms in the area.
ON THIS DATE IN 1967: An F2 tornado moved through western Birmingham. A 57-year-old woman was visiting her daughter on First Court West as she watched the tornado from the front door. She was killed when 2-by-12 timbers launched airborne from a nearby lumber yard were hurled into the house. Birmingham Deputy Fire Chief Neal Gallant watched the storm as it tore down Lomb Avenue. A five-block area near the Fairgrounds was hardest hit. The evening feature at the Fair Park Drive Inn was canceled when the tornado ripped the screen down. The feature was “Weird World of LSD.”
ON THIS DATE IN 1975: A massive tornado hit Omaha, Nebraska, killing three people, injuring 133 others and causing more than $250 million damage. The tornado struck during the late afternoon, moving northeast through the industrial and residential areas of west-central Omaha and lifting over the northern section of the city. The twister, which cut a swath 10 miles long and as much as a quarter of a mile wide, was the most costly in U.S. history to that time.
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